Arya Sanghata Sutra Recitation

In general, the recitation of Mahayana sutras is one of the six virtuous practices specifically recommended for purification, and the recitation of this sutra in particular has far-reaching karmic consequences that last for many lifetimes, as the Sanghata Sutra itself explains in detail. Within the sutra, the Buddha provides numerous descriptions of the ways in which the sutra works on those who recite it to clear away their seeds of suffering, and to assure their future happiness all the way up to enlightenment. The sutra also includes some forceful teachings on death and impermanence, including a teaching on the physical and mental processes that occur at the time of death.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains:

“(T)he merit that you collect every time you hear the Arya Sanghata Sutra is equal to twelve times the merit of the number of buddhas as there are sand grains in the River Ganga. “So, that is just by hearing it. “This means that anyone hearing it – animals, frogs, birds, so no question about pets … – collects that much merit. Can you imagine? It is like an impossible thing in the life that happens. “When those animals, your cat and other animals, hear you recite Buddha’s teachings, it definitely makes them to receive higher rebirth and to meet Dharma. “The very minute you hear it, the five uninterrupted negative karmas – the extremely heavy negative karmas (killing your mother, killing your father, drawing blood from a buddha, creating a schism in the Sangha, etc.) … – those get completely purified. This happens even for the sentient beings who hear the sutra, the minute they hear the sutra.”